76th Masters

AUGUSTA, Ga. 
Phil Mickelson was talking about his Masters regrets this week.

There aren’t very many, given that he’s won three times and contended nearly every year, but there is one that really bugs him.

For the first half dozen or so times he played Augusta National as a pro, the San Diegan couldn’t get his head straight on how to play the par-5 15th hole. A big drive could carry the ball to a downhill chute, putting him in “go” territory to eschew a layup and fire at the green. Never mind that the putting surface is shallow, with shaved banks to the front and back.

Mickelson considered it a “must” birdie. And what happened? He made a double-bogey 7 there in 1993, a 6 in ’98, a 7 in ’99 and a 6 in ’00.

“Epic numbers that shot me out of the tournament,” Mickelson said.

Contrast that to the last eight years. Mickelson has three wins in the span, not a single bogey at 15 and is 16-under on that hole alone.

“When you get hit in the head enough times,” Mickelson said, “you look back and (say), ‘Maybe I should take a step back.’ ”

The lesson is this: Augusta National may have some of the most beautiful and attackable par-5s in the world, but playing them on autopilot is hazardous to the scorecard. When you see a player cringe after not making birdie, there’s good reason for it.

“It’s hard to win without playing the par-5s well,” ESPN analyst Andy North said. “If you don’t take advantage of (the par-5s), you can go days there without getting good birdie putts.”

It’s the truth more than ever at the modern Augusta, where 500 yards — mostly on the par-4s — have been added since Tiger Woods won his first Masters in 1997.

In the last 10 years, the average winning score is 9.6.-under, with the champion averaging 8.5-under on the par-5s, so almost all of the forward progress was made on the longest holes.

Historically, the four par-5 holes are the four easiest on the course. In succession, they are Nos. 15, 13, 2 and 8.

In his 2006 victory, Mickelson scorched the par-5s for a 13-under total, which made up for the fact that he shot 7-over on the par-4s and 1-under on the par-3s. Two years ago in his win, Mickelson was 12-under on the par-5s and 4-under everywhere else.

For his Augusta career, Mickelson is a remarkable 155-under on the par-5s, compared to being 87-over on the other holes.

Tiger Woods has a similar record. He is 133-under on the par-5s, 48-over elsewhere. In his four wins, Woods is a combined 35-under on the par-5s.

In recent years, long-hitting players on the PGA Tour regularly try to reach par-5 holes in two shots. They’d much rather end up in a bunker or rough with a seemingly easy chip than lay up to wedge range.

Augusta complicates that green-light attitude, though, with three sharp doglegs (2, 8 and 13) and the well-protected 15th. Miss the green at any of them and a scary chip awaits.

“The most strategic is probably the eighth hole,” said Rory McIlroy. “You can get your drive away OK, but if you want to try to make the green, it’s a very risky shot. You’ve got overhanging trees on the left, and if not, you miss it right, you leave a tricky chip to a very sectioned green.”

McIlroy’s favorite par-5 is the 13th, which moves like a tilted boomerang and finishes with an enormous green backed by stark white bunkers and walls of bursting azaleas.

“Probably one of the most beautiful holes in the world,” McIlroy said.

Tricky, too.

“TV doesn’t do it justice, how hooked (tilted left) that lie is on the second shot,” Woods said. “The green is set up for fade for a righty, and it’s a hard shot to try to cut one off that lie. You’ve got to start it right at Rae’s Creek and draw it in there. Sometimes the wind tends to swirl down there a little bit. That’s a pretty dicey second shot.”

Unless you’re Mickelson, a lefty who loves slicing his ball around the corner at 13. And when he doesn’t do that, he can pull off the shot like he did on Sunday in ’10: 209 yards, off the pine straw, around a tree, 6-iron, 3 feet from the hole.